Brendan Hughes

Many shooters on here point to Switzerland as a country where everyone has a gun in their home and there are no problems.

Therefore, I found this an interesting article.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4755143.stm

Shame it doesn't give an overall comparison of gun homicides, per capita, between Switzerland and a few other countries.

Fascinating that women didn't get the vote until 1971?!

Edit - found this table with Google, figures are ten years old though.
http://www.guncite.com/gun_control_gcgvinco.html

The Zohan

I wonder how Switzerland stacks up for robbery and burglary v.s some european countries with pretty much all the males over 18 having a gun in the house?

Brendan Hughes

That's one assumption Paul, but another is to look at their cultural characteristics - the Swiss are famous for being a law-abiding nation, a nation that follows rules rather than rebelling against them. I don't know much, but I also thought they were very much introverted and localised, in other words, you have the little village atmosphere and as soon as someone sneezes the entire village knows about it. And they're a famously rich nation. In other words, I don't see so much scope for robbery and burglary.

I'm happy to be proven to be talking out of my butt though

Elmer Fudpucker

Doesn't every male in Switzerland have to do 2 weeks National Service every year from the ages of 20 to 42?

...and in the mean time is allowed to keep their guns at home with them.

The country has 2 million registered guns but a suspected total of 8 million in reality!and thats with a population of only 6 million....

well,according to this jeremy Clarkson book,I'm currently reading anyway

Brendan Hughes

From the BBC article:

"Mr Boess blames the Swiss army's policy of requiring Swiss men, who all have to do military service, to keep their guns and ammunition at home in case of an emergency call-up.

What that means is that nearly all Swiss men have a sturmgewehr - a sub-machine gun - stored somewhere in their homes.

Those who make it to officer level have an automatic pistol too, and when men leave the army, they are allowed to keep their guns. No licence is required. "

KiwiGTI

This thread sounds like a bunch of paranoid, whingeing, British lefties who are afraid of guns.

swaussie

As a resident of Switzerland and sharing a house with 2 machine guns and about 100 rounds of ammo, I do find it strange that the use of these weapons is usually to commit suicide or homicide in the family. I think its very rare for the weapons to be used to commit more common crimes like bank robbery or armed hold ups. But think about it, 15 or so murders in a year. How many of the same crimes are committed in the US or UK in the same period?

It has been explained to me that the Swiss consider the weapon as being there to protect the country in times of need but I guess when someone is under extreme mental duress, they will use it regardless of what they previously thought about it.

It still unsettles me when you see a couple of young guys get on a train in full army dress going to their yearly training and dumping their guns in the racks along with their backpacks and wandering half a train away to sit down I dont think that could happen in many countries.

SirFozzalot

Surprised they feel so threatened by invasion that they all feel it necessary to keep guns at home. Always thought the Swiss were seen as fairly neutral.

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

100 rounds is that all!!!! Scott your slipping mate thats only about 3 mags full and about 10 seconds of fun

swaussie

Yeah for the perfect society that is also perfectly neutral all is not OK in the world of the Swiss. I have heard it has the highest rate of divorce in the developed world, one of the highest rates of suicide and, it appears, one of the highest rates of family murders.

It is a good country in a lot of ways, your everyday crimes such as stealing and muggings etc are very low. I have left my car unlocked so many times its silly and with camera's, bags etc being left untouched. I dont even have an alarm in my STi as car theft is so low as to not be worried about.

But it is a highly regulated society. In Zurich you can go to the website for the local DVA and look up a number plate which will tell you who owns the car and where they live. Move house and dont tell your bank within a few weeks and they will lock your account until you go to them with your new address, it is compulsory to have medical insurance, etc.

It can at times seem oppressive but in general if you dont bother anyone else you can do pretty much what you like. It is strange but it does seem to work favorable in most situations....

swaussie

not the sort of fun I am into Steve, but I reckon 10 seconds at a bus stop would be all some wacked out psycho would need. As SirFozzalot says, Who the hell is going to invade this country??

Although I do worry about it when I am ripping up country lanes on my KTM... but the worst I have gotten is a pitch fork being waved at me

scoobynutta555

The very fact that most of the population are well armed and trained acts as a deterrant to invasion. Why break up a system that has seen them neutral and at peace when so much of Europe was at each others throats in the last century.

SirFozzalot

The reason I am surprised is that I didn't realise that the reason no-one messed with them or invaded was because the entire population was armed to the teeth!

Brendan Hughes

I think part of it is the geography - no-one likes to invade mountainous countries - and also they held Europe's purse-strings throughout most of the 20th century!!!

MJW

Tell that to all our lads out in Afghanistan !

Brendan Hughes

Why, you think they like it?

suprabeast

I thought they just protected themselves with those little knives... "stay back from my can opener"